Spring Break
Riekki releases 'U.P.' with the help of Road, Web
by Daniel Baron
Staff Writer
Arts | 5/19/09
Posted online at 2:39 PM EST on 5/18/09
Ron Riekki is a very busy man. After I had interviewed him over the telephone, he responded to some of my e-mailed follow-up questions with short answers, because he was at the Virginia Festival of the Book, an event at which writers and readers gather for book signings, author panels and other literary happenings.
Riekki, author of the "metal hip-hop punk novel" U.P., received his M.F.A. in Theater Arts/Playwriting from Brandeis University where he had a "brutal professor" who taught him "about the real world" in 1999. He also holds a B.S. from Central Michigan University, an M.F.A. from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. from Western Michigan University. If this were a bragging contest, we'd have to add his SAG membership and appearances on VH1, as well as connections to Tina Fey and Second City to this list of credentials. This author-scholar, however, is not aloof. He is quite grounded and down to earth despite being "addicted to writing"-something he professed to me with chuckles, laughing not because it was a joke but rather because of how true the confession was.
A lot of his understanding of the real world comes from his upbringing in a Michigan community disrupted by economic woes, as well as joining the military as a means to survive those monetarily difficult times. He would say that all times are financially tough for him, and I agree that this is true for most scribes throughout history.
His new book, U.P., is a coming-of-age story set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that deals with some heavy coming-of-age experiences. Riekki is also writing A Portrait of the Artist as a Boogey Man (due 2010), I Hate It Here (due 2011) and Hunger and the Ass (due 2012), which are all part of his contract with Ghost Road Press. And while you might be able to get a copy of U.P. at one or two stores, its main method of distribution is not through brick-and-mortar outfits; You can check out Ghost Road Press at ghostroadpress.com to get your copy. Search by author in the drop-down on the left side of the page, and then select Ron Riekki. Riekki's own Web site is rariekki.webs.com. Or, just go to Amazon.com and search for U.P. there.
Riekki, author of the "metal hip-hop punk novel" U.P., received his M.F.A. in Theater Arts/Playwriting from Brandeis University where he had a "brutal professor" who taught him "about the real world" in 1999. He also holds a B.S. from Central Michigan University, an M.F.A. from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. from Western Michigan University. If this were a bragging contest, we'd have to add his SAG membership and appearances on VH1, as well as connections to Tina Fey and Second City to this list of credentials. This author-scholar, however, is not aloof. He is quite grounded and down to earth despite being "addicted to writing"-something he professed to me with chuckles, laughing not because it was a joke but rather because of how true the confession was.
A lot of his understanding of the real world comes from his upbringing in a Michigan community disrupted by economic woes, as well as joining the military as a means to survive those monetarily difficult times. He would say that all times are financially tough for him, and I agree that this is true for most scribes throughout history.
His new book, U.P., is a coming-of-age story set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that deals with some heavy coming-of-age experiences. Riekki is also writing A Portrait of the Artist as a Boogey Man (due 2010), I Hate It Here (due 2011) and Hunger and the Ass (due 2012), which are all part of his contract with Ghost Road Press. And while you might be able to get a copy of U.P. at one or two stores, its main method of distribution is not through brick-and-mortar outfits; You can check out Ghost Road Press at ghostroadpress.com to get your copy. Search by author in the drop-down on the left side of the page, and then select Ron Riekki. Riekki's own Web site is rariekki.webs.com. Or, just go to Amazon.com and search for U.P. there.
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